


Lioden Den & Lion History Commissions

by SacredMorningStar



Category: Lioden
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 19:20:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11630202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SacredMorningStar/pseuds/SacredMorningStar





	Lioden Den & Lion History Commissions

Emrys had always preferred to be alone even when he was young. Even before he was kicked out of his family pride he would rather spend his time alone, investigating the area around the den, learning about the animals in his father’s territory, and when he finally left the pride he found a peace wandering through the surrounding territories. He hadn’t seen the interest in a pride like his brothers and sisters had, couldn’t understand their excitement at being a king or having a family, so he’d spent most of his younger years just roaming and surviving for himself. He kept to himself and avoided prides and kings as best he could and had managed to survive with the hunting skills he’d learned from the pride. He never thought that he would find a mate, a pride he wanted to keep, or even cubs as that had never been something he’d been interested in. That was until he met a beautiful lioness who had been abandoned by her pride.

The young lioness was just old enough to leave the pride and had seemed to be struggling on her own when Emrys had come across her. She seemed weaker than other lionesses he’d seen before but he was happy to take time with her. She was beautiful, with faint spots across her back and flecks of silver, and it was the first time he’d wanted to be around another lion. He spent time with her, more time than he had any lion before, grooming her, hunting with her, bonding with her, and finally it seemed that he’d found a reason to start and hold a pride. She had become his everything and she even encouraged him to take in other roaming females slowly building a small pride, a few cubs the product of the new pride, in a small territory just large enough to support them. He’d been so confused as to why his siblings had wanted a family so desperately but it seemed Alease, the lioness who had claimed his love, had answered that question for him. Having this small pride had completed a part of Emrys’ life he never thought was missing and it made him happy to spend time with his cubs and queens. He would spend most of the day patrolling his small home and when he was with his pride he would play with the cubs, tend to his queens and often spent time close to Alease; his favourite member of the pride. The heart of their land was a collection of rocks large enough to see most of their land from the top clustered together in a U-shape and had dead trees growing from the sides and top creating shaded areas even during the heat of lunchtime. It was the perfect place for the family to gather after a hunt as it was so easy to view and allowed their calls to carry across the territory. Building the pride had brought a happiness he’d never expected, gave him an experience he never imagined would happen to him, and he felt like everything had gone a way he felt overjoyed with.

The pride had been surviving for three years before disaster seemed to roll over the hill and destroy everything Emrys had loved. A dry thunderstorm had echoed in the African plains and at first all but the youngest in the pride weren’t bothered by such noise as they had been a common occurrence but within hours something had gone horribly wrong. Emrys had left the pride, patrolling the edges of his territory like usual, when a worrying scent drifted across the breeze. He paused and took deep breaths of air into his lungs smelling a thick and heavy scent on the air that had chills running down his spine. The sky seemed to darken suddenly with a thick, dark cloud and animals seemed to panic; rushing away from the smell. That made him realise what was happening. The smoke and faint glow on the horizon was right where the heart of the pride was, close to the den he knew his girls would use when the cubs were young, where his family now resided on the plains. He ran for the den, ran for the heart of his territory where the pride was sleeping after their hunt, he knew they were in danger but as he got there he was too late.

The fire had been carried by winds across the dry, brittle shrubland which allowed the fire to travel quickly and without control. He hadn’t known where the fire had started but as he got to closer to his den he saw the charred ground that smelt of death and soot. He could see the rock reaching over the horizon but it wasn’t the view he’d been hoping for. Flames engulfed the rocky viewpoint and he could hear the cries of his pride from within the fire. He could feel his lungs burning with the desperate need for air but as he got close the cries of his pride faded. He searched across the flames, trying to find his queen Alease, trying to find the cubs, trying to find survivors of the chaos that had begun to tear his heart apart. Desperately he searched through the flames and smoke and ash for his queen, his love, his one true mate and he was heartbroken when he found her. She was laying down looking like she was asleep at first but as he nudged her he realised the flames and smoke had reached her. Her fur was singed and raw skin had become exposed to the wind from licks of fire and heat and all he could do was stare at her for a long moment. Finally he heard one voice, on the edge of the flame, crying out for help and he rushed to the small cub which had just weaned off Alease. The small cub still had the cub spot pattern but she had the silver flecks through her coat much like her mother yet her main fur was a dark grey much like his own making it look like her fur was lined with glitter. She had been named Maeli by the proud parents finding the soft name seemed to suit her personality yet now stared up at her father with her mother’s eyes making the king want to scream to the heavens for his loss but he hadn’t the time. He took hold of her gently, a severe burn across one of her hind legs making her yelp as she was moved, and with a final look over the den he ran.

He ran with as much power as he could and for as long as possible until he reached a small river. He’d avoided injury from the flames, although his large mane had been singed, but he knew the young cub he carried was going to take a lot of care. She was all he had left of his pride and the lioness who had shown what a pride meant and he swore he would give her the love and pride she deserved. He spent only a short period of time caring for the little cub alone before he found a pride he was going to take. He tucked the cub away in thickets, where her scent was hidden by dung from other animals, whenever he hunted and followed the king of the pride of six useful lionesses. He couldn’t care less for the chance to breed, for the lionesses before him, for the lives he was about to change because his little cub needed a pride and needed somewhere safe. The territory was a swamp, rich with prey and lush plant life, making it safer for his little cub and seemed less dangerous than the dry shrublands he had used before.

He stalked the pride king, followed the male closely to find any weaknesses, scoured the territory for an area which gave him the best chance to win the battle. He had noticed an area where he could get a higher ground advantage on the king who was clearly older than him and managed to lure him there. The fight was bloody, full of rage, and desperation but Emrys had managed to gain the upper-hand. He had got on the back of the king, used his claws to slice and cut into the soft flesh of his side and stomach and even as the king tried to resign his throne it seemed it wasn’t enough for Emrys. He made sure that the king would never be coming back to claim the lionesses he lost before he cleaned himself off and collected the young cub. It seemed the lionesses had tried to avoid him at first, tried to keep their cubs protected and safe, but Emrys was much more determined to remove the previous king’s power that he had managed to find and eliminate every single cub. He didn’t care for the blood on his paws, for the lives he was taking, not anymore, and even began to find other prides to claim yet more lionesses. The prides he came across became his whether a king fought him or not and he would kill any challenger young or old. He did not take threats lightly even if they were only in his mind so he made sure to extinguish every perceived danger and his pride had grown far beyond what he had ever expected he would get but he didn’t care. He just wanted to make sure his pride was not lost, that his last connection to his true pride would never be lost, and that his lionesses followed his commands whether they agreed or not.


End file.
